Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Business Wire: ON Semiconductor has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Truesense Imaging, a former Kodak image sensor business. The acquisition of Truesense Imaging complements ON Semiconductor’s image-sensor business by expanding its technology portfolio and adding more than 200 new customers. Under the terms of the agreement, ON Semiconductor will pay approximately $92M in cash to acquire Truesense Imaging.

"The pending acquisition of Truesense Imaging is a step towards our stated strategic goal of expanding our presence in select segments of the industrial end-market," said Keith Jackson, president and CEO of ON Semiconductor. "With the acquisition of Truesense, we will augment our abilities to deliver a broad range of high-performance image sensors to the industrial end-market and at the same time significantly expand our customer footprint. I am excited about the growth opportunities the combination of the two companies presents in the high-performance imaging market."

"ON Semiconductor is an ideal strategic fit for Truesense as we share a common vision for expanding the capabilities of high-performance sensors used in the world’s most demanding imaging applications," said Chris McNiffe, CEO of Truesense Imaging. "This combination enables us to leverage our technology base and four decades of imaging expertise with ON Semiconductor’s R&D, manufacturing and global logistics infrastructure. We are very excited to join the ON Semiconductor organization and to enable new growth opportunities for both our customers and our employees."

Based on unaudited results, Truesense Imaging’s revenue for 2013 was approximately $79M with gross and operating margins of approximately 44% and 23%, respectively. Truesense Imaging will be incorporated in ON Semiconductor’s Application Products Group (APG) business group. The transaction has been approved by ON Semiconductor’s and Truesense Imaging’s boards of directors and is anticipated to close before the end of Q22014, subject to required regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Market Wired publishes a PR of Platinum Equity, the current owner of Truesense: "This is a textbook example of the value Platinum Equity's approach can provide many different stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of an investment," said Platinum Equity's Jason Leach, who led the initial acquisition. "First we provided a divestiture solution to a seller in need as Kodak confronted a difficult period of restructuring. We then executed a complex carve out with minimal disruption and established the business as an independent company that has thrived under our stewardship, to the benefit of Truesense customers, suppliers and employees. We have now found a new home for Truesense that we believe is a perfect fit."